Marbled beef

Marble beef or marble meat bears this name due to the fact that fat layers are evenly distributed in the muscle tissues of young gobies, thanks to which a piece of meat resembles the natural pattern of a noble stone on a slice. In the process of cooking, the fat in marble beef melts, filling the meat with juice and giving it a unique softness and tenderness.

A classic example of marble beef is the meat product of the world famous Wagyu breed from Japan. As you know, this breed is distinguished by a genetic predisposition to the appearance of fat layers in meat. Interestingly, the Japanese achieve the exclusivity of marble beef through a special technology for raising animals, in which until six months of age, gobies are fattened with milk, and then graze in meadows, living a free life.

In the next stage of marble beef production, calves are placed in individual rooms and suspended on reins so that animals cannot move, but do not lie down. This is necessary so that the muscles of the animals are under tension, and the necessary fat layers are distributed evenly in the muscle tissues. At this time, gobies are fed with selected grain, and the longer this happens, the greater the "marbling" of the beef.

As a result, marble beef is tender, melting in the mouth like butter. However, this rather complex technology is very expensive, so the industrial scale of production of such beef does not go beyond the country. The calorie content of marble beef is about 170 kcal per hundred grams of high-quality meat.

But the United States and Australia are the main suppliers of marble beef to the global market. On the territory of the farms of these states, it is customary to use a simpler and much cheaper fattening system than in the Land of the Rising Sun. In addition to wheat, feed and corn, the diet of animals may include milk, dry wine and even honey.

By the way, it is precisely due to honey feeding that special substances accumulate in the muscles of animals, which contribute not only to greater looseness, that is, the softness of marble beef, but also to the fact that a crust is formed during frying, contributing to the preservation of more useful substances in the finished dish.

It is noteworthy that immediately after slaughtering gobies, marble beef is not ready for cooking - the meat is aged for several weeks. During this time, special enzymes that are present in meat trigger chemical processes that destroy muscle fibers. Thanks to this, marble beef becomes even more tender and finally forms its taste "bouquet. "